Vehicle wheel



May 29, 1923. 1,4.'s6,9'1=,2l

A M. VAN METER vEHI'cLE WHEEL Filed Sept. '7 1920 Patented May 29,1923.

VEHICLE WHEEL. 'e

. Appiieatienled. September 7, 1920. Sera1-No. 408,527.1

T 0 all whom t may concern; Y

Be it lknown thatl, MonroN VAN METER, a citizenrof the 'United States, residing at Cadillac,`y in the county of lVexforcLState of 'Michigam have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Vehicle Wheels, and declare the following to .be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the sa me,'ref erence'- being hadlto the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specicati'on; 1 v a This invention relates to vehicle wheels, andthe principal object of theinvention is to provide a wire wheel vconstruction of'such character as to permitits use with a wood wheel fhub: There are many wood wheels in usewand'by the construction hereinafter 'more fully describedthe hubs of thesewood wheels' maybe utilized by vreplacing the riin and spokes of thewoodwheels byl a wire wheel construction. Another. Object ofthe invention isto secureawire wheel construction that is comparatively 'inexpensive in character adapted to utilize a hubof the ordinary' construction used lwith a wood wheel land to secure alight-and resilient wheel. A.v further object-of the invention is to provide a wire wheel of alfcharacter adapted'to replace the spokes and lrim of a wood wheel 'and to secure aconstruction permitting the use of spokes of considerable 'angularity to the center plane 'of' the rim.

AnV additional object of this invention is to provide a. readily demountable wirewheel in which the usual inner andout'er hub meinbers aredispensed with thus materially re-v ducing the cost of manufacture. Thesev and other objectsand several novel features of the invention are herein'after'more fully` described `and claimed, and the preferred lform of construction of ka wheel *embodying my invention is 'shown in the accompanying drawing which is a cross section of my 1n'- proved wheel showing the hub in'felevat-ion.

With Lthe usual demountable wheels as heretoforer manufactured, there .is an inner hub. member andan outer hub member keyed vtogether and the 'machining of the parts is somewhat expensive and also the parts are oftentimes difficult'to disassemble dueto the close fittingrelationship iof *the same whereby rust between surfaces in contactftends to freeze the same together. With the construction hereinafter more fully describedQI am able to use a hub the same character now used with .an ordi'-v nary wood wheel hub having flanges between which7 inthewood wheelstructure, theinf ner spoke ends aresecured@` Such 'l avhub is.y

shown in the drawing which haga-'portion l provided with. ran outwardly extending flange 2 integral therewith and on a reduced portion 3 of the hub is a longitudinally rm'o'vf able flange phaving. a .Small'hubl fitting `the said portion 3.A In place of the lwood spokes" which ordinarilyfin' th'e construction of a wood wheel are lheld between these flanges, I provide adisc member 5 ypreferably vof wood apertured to receive 'the 'flange bolts i v `6 of'whichfthere are severaLmThese bolts f pass through both thel integraland movable flanges 2 and-f and securely retain the disc v 5 in position to nrotate therewith.`A The disc` is centrally apertured as willV be .noted in the drawing, to permit introduction over the reduced-portion 3 o'fthehub.r This disc ,member maybe made of any desired material preferably of wood and when madeof shrunk or secured about the periphery thereof.' y Y y p y v v 'wood a metal lringnieinber i shouldfloe The wire wheel member consists of a rim 8 which Imay, be of anyfapprovcd type,` either whatV is lrnownjas clinchei or straightside or any other desireddesign, vhaving-- d seatsv for the several sets of spokes. which tie the rim to what- Iy have termedtheauzr-v iliary hub 9. This auxiliary hubA 9,*whichv `maybe a cast-huby or inadeyof sheet metal of-vsuiiieient strength forA the pu'rpose,fis

provided with an annular recess 10, the' I y peripheral wall of which seats over the periphery of the. disc-5 orfif a wooden disc engages over the peripheraljmetal band. 7.

of the disc. This flangejis apertured-toiire- Y cei-ve the spoke ends substantiallyas'` shown and is secured to thedisc at 15 by meansof the boltsv 11 extending Qthroug'h the dise `member 5 and through` aperturesprovided in the sidewalls of the recessed portion l0.

loo

The hub member 9 extends outwardly from a truncated coneand vshaped atthe truncated end Einany desired manner in simurwhich are at lan 'extremeangleto the center plane ofl the lwheelfand giving `-the same great strength being in position to effectual-- this portion 10 substantially in theshape of ly resist side strain imposed on the wheel inI use. Vhile not here shown7 the truneav ed end yot' the cone portion 9 may be provided with a cap or plate of any desired chcracter to close the aperture lll therein through which the hub end is exposed. rIhis aperture 14: permits the introduction of a wrench to 'remove the' hub member l from the spindle of theaxle (not here shown.)

- lVith the construction above outlined, a wire wheel that has the rim portion and tread in the same relationship to the hub as in the ordinary wood wheel construction is secured. also the wire wheel is readily demountable by removal of the nut-s oi' the bolt ll, whereupon the wheel is demounted trom the disc 5. This is readily accomplished as there are no keyed parts requiring considerable force to demount the same as with former constructions where inner and outer hub members are utilized. I/Vith the construction above outlined including a hub similar to that of the usualfwood wheel, I have secured a demountable vwheel without the use ofthe ordinary inner hub which requires to be machined and this Vresults in low manufacturing cost as the pressed steel or cast hub 9 requires no particular expensive machining and with this construction this type of wheel may be universally used as the same is adapted vfor use with any wood hub simply by varying the bore of the member 5 and spacing of the apertures iior the bolts 6 to correspond with the type of hub utilized.

By this construction as above outlined th locking device heretofore necessarily utilized with demountablewheels is dispensed with as the bolts by means of which the auxiliary hub 9 is secured to the disc member 5, securely hold the parts in the assembled relationship without possibility ot the demounta-ble portion becoming loosened in 'use as with the locking type ot demountable hubs heretofore used. Vhile I have shown the rim and auxiliary hub as connected by three sets ot spokes it is to be understood that the spoke arrangement may be of any desired character without departing from the spirit of this invention.

Having thus fully described my invention,` what I claim isy l. In a vehicle wheel the combination with a hub having a fixed lateral flange and a similar fiange movable longitudinally of the hub, of la wood disc centrally apertured vto receive the hub and adapted to be secured between=the said flanges, an auxiliary .hub having a portion parallel with the plane of the disc and a portion at a right angle'thereto fitting over the periphery ofthe disc, and bolts extending between the disc and the said parallel portion of the auxiliary hub detachably lsecuring the auxiliary hub to the wood disc, a rim and a series of spokes. ex

tending between the rim and auxiliary hub.

2. In a vehicle wheel7 a hub member having an inner integral and an outer detachable flange, a disc like member centrally apertured to pass over the hub, means for securing the disc between the said lan'es, an auxiliary'hub having a portion parallel with the tace ot the disc and a portion at a right angle thereto fitting over the periphery oi the disc, the terminal of the said right angle portion having seats for spokes, said auxiliary hub also having an outwardly extending portion covering the main hub and provided at the outer end with seats for spokes, means for securingthe auxiliary hub to the disc, a rim and spokes extending be-Y tween the rim and the said seats of the auxiliary hub.

3. In a vehicle wheel the combination with a hub having spaced flanges, the outermost iange being detachable7 of a disc like mem-- ber centrally apertured to pass longitudinally onto the hub member, the disc member being secured between the -said flanges, an auxiliary hub substantially cone shaped in general form and having a base portion fitting over the disc member, a portion thereof lying in side contact with the disc member7 a series ot bolts for detachably connecting the auxiliary member to they disc like member, a rim, and a series of spokes ex tending between `the rim and the auxiliary hub, a portion of said series of'spokes extending to the outer small end of the auxiliarT hub `and another' series extending to the-base of the auxiliary hub.

4. In a vehicle wheel, the combination with a hub having spaced ianges, of a disk secured between the flanges, an auxiliary hub having a portion `engaging the side of the disk and a portion at a right angle thereto fitting over the periphery, bolts extending through the disk and portion of the auxiliary hub detachably'securing theV hub to the disk7 a rim and spokesiextending between the auxiliary hub and rim, the struc-ture upon assembly positioning the center plane of the wheel practically coinciding with' the y center plane of the disk.

5. In a vehicle wheel the combination with a hub having spaced fianges, of a disksecured between the flanges, an auxiliary hub having one end formed :tor-.detachable con- Y nection with the disk. and an outwardly extending portion covering Vthe end of thehub, a rim vand spokes extending between `the rim'and both ends oi the auxiliary hub positioning the center plane of the wheelA praccation. v

MORTON VAN METER. 

